Code, Courts and Borders: How Tech Shapes Immigration for Black Africans in Texas

Walk into almost any immigration law office in Texas today and you’ll see it: fewer paper files, more portals, apps and screens. Immigration law has quietly gone digital, and for Black Africans living in Texas, that shift is changing everything from how you find a lawyer to how you cross the border or fight a deportation case.

Texas is now one of the main homes for Black immigrants in the U.S. The number of Black immigrants in the state nearly doubled in a decade, from about 172,000 in 2012 to just over 309,000 in 2022.American Immigration Council Many of them are African-born—Nigerian, Ghanaian, Cameroonian, Ethiopian, Kenyan and others—and a large share live in urban centers like Houston and Dallas.repositories.lib.utexas.edu+2BlackDemographics.com+2

As that community has grown, so has the role of information technology (IT) in shaping their immigration journeys—sometimes as a lifeline, sometimes as a new form of gatekeeping.

1. Digital courts: when your case lives in the cloud

For anyone in removal proceedings, the biggest change is the EOIR Courts & Appeals System (ECAS)—the federal e-filing platform for immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. ECAS is now available at all immigration courts and its use has been made mandatory for attorneys and DHS in most cases.regulations.gov+3Department of Justice+3Aila+3

On paper (literally), ECAS is a win:

• Lawyers can file motions, briefs and evidence online instead of queuing at the court.
• They can see hearing notices, judge decisions and case information through a portal rather than waiting on mail.cliniclegal.org+1
• A lawyer in Houston can represent a detained client in rural South Texas without driving six hours every time.

For Black African immigrants—who may be juggling work, study, church and family responsibilities—this can mean fewer missed hearings and faster communication with counsel.

But there’s a catch: the system is built for professionals, not for ordinary people. If you don’t have a lawyer, ECAS is hard to navigate. Many Black Africans in Texas are first-generation immigrants unfamiliar with U.S. bureaucracy, and some are still building English fluency. When everything moves online, those who lack strong digital skills, stable internet or a laptop are left behind.

Remote hearings add another layer. Video or phone hearings save travel time, but poor audio, dropped connections and interpreter issues can make it hard to tell your story, especially if you are explaining persecution, torture or complex political histories from African countries.

2. Tech at the border: apps as gatekeepers

For Africans who reach the U.S.–Mexico border—often after long journeys through Latin America—technology can be the first “officer” they meet.

In recent years, the CBP One app became a central gateway for many asylum seekers, who had to secure an appointment through the app before presenting at a port of entry. Humanitarian groups and legal organizations have documented a series of problems: long waits for limited appointment slots, technical glitches, and the need for a smartphone plus reliable internet.ScienceDirect+3HIAS+3American Immigration Council+3

Advocates working with Black asylum seekers reported that the app’s facial recognition struggled with darker skin tones, effectively blocking some people from completing registration.The Guardian For many Africans in border cities like Tijuana or Ciudad Juárez, that meant months of being stuck in dangerous conditions while trying, and failing, to get an appointment.

On top of that, the politics around the app keep shifting. Under the current administration, the previous appointment system was abruptly shut down, canceling hundreds of thousands of pending slots in Mexico.The Guardian The technology has since been repurposed as a “self-deportation” tool that allows people to report their intent to leave the U.S. voluntarily.New York Post

For Black Africans, the lesson is harsh but simple: a change in code plus a change in policy can redraw the border overnight, even if the physical fence doesn’t move an inch.

3. AI and big data in immigration enforcement

Behind the scenes, immigration enforcement is being reshaped by artificial intelligence and data analytics.

The Department of Homeland Security now lists close to 200 active AI use cases across its components, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).American Immigration Council+3Brookings+3Department of Homeland Security+3 These systems analyze huge pools of information—travel records, criminal databases, commercial data, sometimes even social media—to decide whom to flag, where to send agents, and which cases look “risky.”

In theory, this is about efficiency. In practice, there are three big worries for Black Africans in Texas:

1. Bias baked into the data
   AI tools learn from past patterns. If earlier enforcement disproportionately targeted Black or African communities, an algorithm trained on that history can repeat and reinforce the same patterns—just faster and more quietly.
2. Misidentification and name issues
   Many African names are unfamiliar to U.S. systems and are often misspelled or truncated. Errors in databases can lead to false matches or mistaken identity hits, which might trigger extra questioning at airports, delays in applications, or even wrongful detention.
3. Opacity and accountability
   When a case is delayed or a person is repeatedly stopped, it’s rarely clear whether an algorithm was involved—or how to challenge its decision. Legal scholars call these systems “invisible gatekeepers” because they shape outcomes in ways that are hard to see or appeal.American Immigration Council

For Texas’ Black African community—many of whom are highly educated, tech-savvy professionals—there’s an uncomfortable irony: the same tech revolution they contribute to in Houston’s offices and data centers can quietly work against them in the immigration system.

4. How IT helps Black Africans in Texas

It’s not all negative. Technology has opened real opportunities and tools, especially when communities organize around it.

• Access to legal help
  Online consultations, WhatsApp and Zoom have made it easier to reach immigration attorneys, even across cities. A Cameroonian asylum seeker in the Rio Grande Valley can now work with a Nigerian lawyer in Houston who understands both the law and the cultural context.
• Information and self-advocacy
  Nonprofits and legal clinics increasingly publish guides, videos and webinars explaining asylum, TPS, student visas, family petitions and work authorizations. With a smartphone, a recent arrival can learn the basics before ever stepping into a law office.
• Community support networks
  African churches, student associations and hometown unions run Telegram and WhatsApp groups where people share updates about policy changes, ICE raids, clinic days and know-your-rights events. These networks often move faster than traditional media.
• Digital records and evidence
  For people fleeing persecution, digital evidence—photos, messages, news reports—can be vital in asylum claims. The ability to store documents in the cloud protects them from loss or confiscation and can strengthen a case.

Used well, IT can balance some of the power difference between individuals and a very complex legal system.

5. Where tech deepens inequality

The same tools can also widen gaps inside the Black African community.

• Digital divide
  New arrivals who are older, less educated or simply poorer may not have the same comfort with apps and online portals. Prepaid data plans, broken phones and shared devices make it hard to stay on top of e-mails, notices and deadlines.
• Language barriers online
  Many government websites and apps are only in English and Spanish. That leaves speakers of Amharic, Tigrinya, Somali, Fulani or Yoruba dependent on friends or community members to interpret complex legal content—raising risks of misunderstanding.
• Stress and surveillance
  The feeling that “everything is being watched”—location data, transactions, social media—can be especially heavy for people who already distrust authorities because of experiences with corrupt or abusive governments back home. People may avoid useful tech (like case-tracking portals) out of fear that using them could backfire.

6. What a fairer digital immigration system could look like

For policymakers, advocates and technologists in Texas, the question is not whether IT will shape immigration—it already does—but how to steer that power in a fairer direction, especially for communities like Black Africans who sit at the intersection of race, nationality and immigration status.

A few practical directions:

1. Make digital courts people-friendly
   • Provide clear, multilingual guides and videos on how ECAS works for non-lawyers.
   • Fund court-based or community-based “digital navigators” who can help people scan, upload and review documents securely.
2. Audit AI and data systems for bias
   • Require independent evaluation of AI tools used by ICE, CBP and USCIS, with particular attention to racial disparities and error rates affecting Black immigrants.Brookings+1
   • Create simple ways for individuals to challenge errors in government databases.
3. Fix or replace flawed border apps
   • Ensure any technology used at the border is accessible regardless of skin tone, device type, or connectivity, and that there is always a non-digital alternative for people who cannot reasonably use the app.HIAS+3American Immigration Council+3Amnesty International+3
4. Invest in community tech capacity
   • Support African community organizations, churches and student groups in Texas to run digital literacy trainings focused on immigration tools and online security.
   • Encourage Black African tech professionals and law students to get involved in building better tools, from secure document-sharing platforms to language-specific legal information sites.

7. Closing thoughts

The role of IT in immigration law isn’t abstract for Black Africans in Texas—it’s personal. It’s the app that decides whether you can approach a legal port of entry, the portal where your lawyer files evidence, the algorithm that quietly scores your risk profile, and the WhatsApp group that warns you about an ICE operation.

Technology can make the system more efficient and more humane, or more opaque and more unequal. For Black Africans building lives in Texas, the challenge is to understand these tools, use them strategically, and push—through advocacy, community organizing and professional expertise—for a digital immigration system that recognizes their dignity rather than undermining it.

Nothing in this article is legal advice. If you’re dealing with an immigration issue, speak with a qualified immigration attorney or accredited representative who can look at your specific situation.